Aureate Mirages
by lovelytunes
Summary: Random musings about Minako, the lone defender of love...
1. Chapter 1: To Succumb

She knelt by the rocky edge of the shimmering lake, under the illuminating silvery moon which sat upon the nothingness of the dark heavenlies above. Her lean frame cast not the least of shadows on this terrestrial world. Reaching out with her slender hand as weightless as a pure feather, Venusia drew on the surface of the reflective waters, the divine action of which produced graceful rhythmic ripples. They absorbed her release of latent energy to arise and descend in perfectly choreographed sequence while simultaneously emanating the dewy whispers of nature...

Her age-defying face could confuse any mortal's guess of her fathomless youth, but each of her rejuvenation is like the untraceable origin of the universe, ever spreading even though as ancient as the source of all deities. Against the speed of time, her intangible heart sprinted as furiously as her fragile aura could bear, yet the very essence of pristine serenity she birthed forth ceaselessly was all-evident and overpowering.

Her liquid crystal gown adhering to her thin mist-like skin shed blinding golden as well as colourless sparkles on every spot they touched. She now resigned to the conclusion of her brief presence on earth. She knew her destiny, likened to a sentence she dreaded, was never meant to be gratified with love from a second being, much less one who possessed a temporal span of existence. The curse was now in effect, erasing all her affections and soulful memories until she was devoid of every fleshly awareness...

The lake felt her fate and was agitated. She was neither stirred nor affirmed by all the disturbances but simply let her fingers finished their ultimate embellishment on the only moving form of matter as vulnerable and receptive as herself...Will the self inside her be forever emptied of wholeness and certainty of a once alternate past? In a flash, she came to vanish out of sight, leaving behind the raging waves pouring violently onto the wistful banks...


	2. Chapter 2: Unyielding

Upon realising that all she had been sprinting after was just a mirage, Minako slumped down onto the deserted path of warm ground, panting to catch her breaths and wiping off beads of sweat with the back of her hands from her face. Staring down disheartenedly at the plain dull surface of white mixed with uneven faint greys and sandy browns before her, she was not sure what to make out of the sharp stab of disappointment within, after being also physically exhausted from the long run. Perhaps, she was going against the logic of illusion and optical facts...Yet, despite their discoveries so profound managing to cleverly catch hold of one of the many tricks played by the imperfect human eye, she was staunch on setting her goal on a seemingly mission impossible. Pressing both her palms down against the hardness of the earth under her, she questioned herself repeatedly if she had failed in her stubborn quest, hearing the imaginative utterances clearly in her mind's ear...

"What is the truth?"

All this while of the ever expanding universe's existence, is it something fleeting, elusive, deceiving, intangible, tautly concealed, unreachable to mortals' defiant chase? Minako, in bearing half-hearted defeat, lifted her hands and regarded the unfairness of her dirtied, reddened palms. She sighed in exasperation and let herself fell backwards to lie flat on the ground in surrender to the rigid laws governing the visible world over...Shutting her eyes to rest her headstrong will, she could take in once more slowed, unrushed, deep breaths flowing in tune with the relaxed rhythms of nature. Under the protective shade of the cool rustling mulberry trees lining the whole stretch of path in between them, Minako eased herself and gradually let go of those feisty unnerving thoughts, filtering them out to unclog her overwhelmed mind and emotions...

It was already mid-autumn, yet she could still soak herself in the generous amount of summer-like heat offered by the eternal sun...Minako drew a hand close to pat her shiny blonde fringes, spared from the wetness of her sweat from a moment ago. Her small lips curved slightly into an appeased smile, but still not fully succumbing to the ill-fated result of her sheer effort expended.

She clenched her other fist and muttered in the girl's usual obstinate tone, "This is not over yet, Minako...I will find the truth...someday, somehow...This mirage will come trailing after me...along its inescapable route..."

A sudden whiff of tender spring scent reached her senses...Minako thought it strange and a rather unlikely experience at such a late time of the year. She opened up her eyes again without a second thought, puzzled and suspecting another possible illusion.

She blinked a few times before finally making out a little speck of soft pink something found its place of landing on the top middle part of her nose. With utmost care and ensuring she did not move her head at all unnecessarily, Minako reached her fingers over to it, clasped together the weightless piece of stuff tight with all her might and straight away sat bolt upright.

As she rubbed her eyes to be much more certain of reality and focused her gaze on the tiny petal before her, Minako mouthed with inconclusive contemplation, "Sakura? It's cherry blossom,...from where?"


End file.
